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Rays tales

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 20, 2001

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: There is another, shall we say, mature left-hander wearing a Tampa Bay uniform these days. When the Rays signed Jim Morris in 1999, he was a 35-year-old high school coach/teacher who had been out of the game for 10 years. The Rays got a load of publicity out of the deal, plus 15 innings of mediocre relief work in 21 games over parts of two seasons. The big payoff went to Morris, who made himself a rich man with a just-released book, The Oldest Rookie, and a Disney-backed movie, The Rookie, which is due out next spring.

Playing Morris, and wearing the Rays' No. 63 uniform in scenes shot last week at the Ballpark in Arlington, is veteran actor Dennis Quaid. The 47-year-old left-hander at least brings some previous cinematic athletic experience to the role, having played a pitcher in the 1977 film I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, college football star Gavin Grey in the 1988 movie Everybody's All-American and veteran quarterback Jack "Cap" Rooney in Oliver Stone's 1999 Any Given Sunday. Among his 50 or so roles, Quaid also has played Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire, Doc Holliday in Wyatt Earp, astronaut Gordon Cooper in The Right Stuff and slime-ball attorney Arnie Metzger in Traffic.

Quaid wears the Rays' new uniform, which is not historically correct but looks better and, what the heck, this is the movies. Most of the scenes involving the Rays apparently are being handled generically, meaning that except for former scout Doug Gassaway and the voice of scouting director Dan Jennings, team officials and players are not identified or represented by actual characters. So much for Ben Affleck playing Steve Cox, or Tommy Lee Jones as Chuck LaMar, or, well, never mind.

WELCOME BACK: Since he was last with the Rays -- about a two-hour stay from the time they took him off Seattle's roster in the November 1997 expansion draft until they traded him to San Diego in the deal for John Flaherty -- Andy Sheets has been on the move. He played in the World Series in 1998 for the Padres; was traded to Anaheim in a March 1999 deal for Phil Nevin but played his way down to Triple-A Edmonton; signed with Boston but spent most of 2000 at Triple-A Pawtucket; then signed a minor-league deal with the Rays and opened the season at Triple-A Durham.

Ex-Rays

How some players traded, released or let go by Rays during the 2000-2001 seasons are doing (stats through Friday):

(Player, Team-League, .Avg,AB,H,HR,RBI)

Miguel Cairo,Iowa-AAA,.301,123,37,3,14

Miguel Cairo,Cubs,.000,2,0,0,0

Jose Canseco,Newark-Ind.,.273,44,12,3,13

Vinny Castilla, Astros,.250,16,4,1,3

T. Graffanino,White Sox,.324,34,11,1,2

Kenny Kelly,San Antonio-AA,.197,127,25,0,8

Dave Martinez,Braves,.348,46,16,0,3

Q. McCracken,Edmonton-AAA,.382,131,50,1, 19

Herbert Perry,White Sox,.278,97,27,3,13

Alex Sanchez,Ind.-AAA,.287,143,41,0,13

Bubba Trammell, Padres,.285, 123,35,7,29

(Pitcher, Team,W-L,ERA,Svs,G, IP)

Mike Duvall,Edmon.-AAA,1-0,5.12,0, 19, 19.1

Mark Guthrie,A's,3-0,4.70,0,13, 15.1

Roberto Hernandez,Royals, 1-2,6.75, 7, 18, 18.2

Cory Lidle,A's,0-2,5.31,0, 7, 39.0

Jim Mecir,A's,0-4,3.16,1, 18, 25.2

Billy Taylor,Nash.-AAA,0-1,8.00,2, 8, 9.0

Steve Trachsel,Mets, 1-6,8.24,0, 8, 39.1

Rick White,Mets,0-0,3.68,0, 5, 7.1

RETIRED: Dwight Gooden, Ozzie Guillen, Jim Morris, Kevin Stocker.

CURRENTLY UNSIGNED: Dave Eiland, Jeff Sparks.

PLAYING OVERSEAS: Ozzie Timmons.

What they're saying

Seth Livingstone, about contraction in Baseball Weekly: "Hey, Montreal and Tampa Bay, you are the weakest links. But Florida, Kansas City, Oakland and Minnesota, you're not too far behind. It's survival of the fittest, baby. Baseball ... is foisting a watered-down product on its clientele and, at $32 a box seat, fans can only take so much."

Quote of the week

"You can get all the ovations you want before the game. I want some dirt on my shoes after the game." -- HAL McRAE, Rays manager on declining to bring the lineup card to home plate.

By the numbers

8: Players on 25-man roster who started season at Triple-A Durham.

41.9: Percent of plate appearances in which Fred McGriff swung at the first pitch.

100: Swings out of 319 taken by Greg Vaughn that missed.

Rays vs. Rays vs. Rays vs. Rays

After 42 games (Year, W-L,Pct.,P-GB)

2001, 11-31, .262, 5-13.5

2000, 14-28, .333, 5-12

1999, 22-20, .524, 3-2.5

1998, 20-22, .476, 3-10.5

Overall (Year, W-L, Pct., P-GB)

2001, 42-120*, .259*,?-??

2000, 69-92,.429,5-18

1999, 69-93,.426,5-29

1998, 63-99,.389,5-51

* projected. P-GB: Place in East Division-games behind first

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